SHMT2 is Associated with Tumor Purity, CD8+ T Immune Cells Infiltration, and a Novel Therapeutic Target in Four Different Human Cancers

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Usman ◽  
Yasir Hameed ◽  
Mukhtiar Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Junaid Iqbal ◽  
Aghna Maryam ◽  
...  

Aims: This study was launched to identify the SHMT2 associated Human Cancer subtypes. Background: Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death worldwide. Previous reports revealed the limited involvement of SHMT2 in human cancer. In the current study, we comprehensively analyzed the role of SHMT2 in 24 major subtypes of human cancers using in silico approach and identified a few subtypes that are mainly associated with SHMT2. Objective:: We aim to comprehensively analyze the role of SHMT2 in 24 major subtypes of human cancers using in silico approach and identified a few subtypes that are mainly associated with SHMT2. Earlier, limited knowledge exists in the medical literature regarding the involvement of Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2) in human cancer. Methods: In the current study, we comprehensively analyzed the role of SHMT2 in 24 major subtypes of human cancers using in silico approach and identified a few subtypes that are mainly associated with SHMT2. Pan-cancer transcriptional expression profiling of SHMT2 was done using UALCAN while further validation was performed using GENT2. For translational profiling of SHMT2, we utilized Human Protein Atlas (HPA) platform. Promoter methylation, genetic alteration, and copy number variations (CNVs) profiles were analyzed through MEXPRESS and cBioPortal. Survival analysis was carried out through Kaplan–Meier (KM) plotter platform. Pathway enrichment analysis of SHMT2 was performed using DAVID, while the gene-drug network was drawn through CTD and Cytoscape. Furthermore, in the tumor microenvironment, a correlation between tumor purity, CD8+ T immune cells infiltration, and SHMT2 expression was accessed using TIMER. Results: SHMT2 was found overexpressed in 24 different subtypes of human cancers and its overexpression was significantly associated with the reduced Overall survival (OS) and Relapse-free survival durations of Breast cancer (BRCA), Kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP), Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), and Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. This implies that SHMT2 plays a significant role in the development and progression of these cancers. We further noticed that SHMT2 was also up-regulated in BRCA, KIRP, LIHC, and LUAD patients of different clinicopathological features. Pathways enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of SHMT2 enriched genes in five diverse pathways. Furthermore, we also explored some interesting correlations between SHMT2 expression and promoter methylation, genetic alterations, CNVs, tumor purity, and CD8+ T immune cell infiltrates. Conclusion: Our results suggested that overexpressed SHMT2 is correlated with the reduced OS and RFS of the BRCA, KIRP, LIHC, and LUAD patients and can be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for these cancers.

2024 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ahmad ◽  
Y. Hameed ◽  
M. Khan ◽  
M Usman ◽  
A. Rehman ◽  
...  

Abstract Cancer is a fatal malignancy and its increasing worldwide prevalence demands the discovery of more sensitive and reliable molecular biomarkers. To investigate the GINS1 expression level and its prognostic value in distinct human cancers using a series of multi-layered in silico approach may help to establish it as a potential shared diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of different cancer subtypes. The GINS1 mRNA, protein expression, and promoter methylation were analyzed using UALCAN and Human Protein Atlas (HPA), while mRNA expression was further validated via GENT2. The potential prognostic values of GINS1 were evaluated through KM plotter. Then, cBioPortal was utilized to examine the GINS1-related genetic mutations and copy number variations (CNVs), while pathway enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID. Moreover, a correlational analysis between GINS1 expression and CD8+ T immune cells and a the construction of gene-drug interaction network was performed using TIMER, CDT, and Cytoscape. The GINS1 was found down-regulated in a single subtypes of human cancer while commonly up-regulated in 23 different other subtypes. The up-regulation of GINS1 was significantly correlated with the poor overall survival (OS) of Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (LIHC), Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD), and Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). The GINS1 was also found up-regulated in LIHC, LUAD, and KIRC patients of different clinicopathological features. Pathways enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of GINS1 in two diverse pathways, while few interesting correlations were also documented between GINS1 expression and its promoter methylation level, CD8+ T immune cells level, and CNVs. Moreover, we also predicted few drugs that could be used in the treatment of LIHC, LUAD, and KIRC by regulating the GINS1 expression. The expression profiling of GINS1 in the current study has suggested it a novel shared diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of LIHC, LUAD, and KIRC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuzhat Sial ◽  
Mukhtiar Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Safdar Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Junaid Iqbal ◽  
Yasir Hameed ◽  
...  

AbstractAccording to the previous reports, the collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) causes tumorigenesis by modulating the tumor microenvironment, however, the evidence is limited to a few human cancer subtypes. In the current study, we analyzed and validated the CTHRC1 expression variations in 24 different human cancer tissues paired with normal tissues using publically available databases. We observed that CTHRC1 was overexpressed in all the 24 major subtypes of human cancers and its overexpression was significantly associated with the reduced overall survival (OS) duration of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), and Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC). This implies that CTHRC1 plays a significant role in the development and progression of these cancers. We further noticed that CTHRC1 was also overexpressed in HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, STAD, and UCEC patients of different clinicopathological features. Pathways enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of CTHRC1 associated genes in seven diverse pathways. We also explored few interesting correlations between CTHRC1 expression and promoter methylation, genetic alterations, CNVs, CD8+ T immune cells infiltration, and tumor purity. In conclusion, CTHRC1 can serve as a shared diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, STAD, and UCEC patients of different clinicopathological features.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Jiang ◽  
Katrine Ingelshed ◽  
Yunbing Shen ◽  
Sanjaykumar V. Boddul ◽  
Vaishnavi Srinivasan Iyer ◽  
...  

CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to inactivate or modify genes by inducing double-stranded DNA breaks1–3. As a protective cellular response, DNA breaks result in p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and activation of cell death programs4,5. Inactivating p53 mutations are the most commonly found genetic alterations in cancer, highlighting the important role of the gene6–8. Here, we show that cells deficient in p53, as well as in genes of a core CRISPR-p53 tumor suppressor interactome, are enriched in a cell population when CRISPR is applied. Such enrichment could pose a challenge for clinical CRISPR use. Importantly, we identify that transient p53 inhibition suppresses the enrichment of cells with these mutations. Furthermore, in a data set of >800 human cancer cell lines, we identify parameters influencing the enrichment of p53 mutated cells, including strong baseline CDKN1A expression as a predictor for an active CRISPR-p53 axis. Taken together, our data identify strategies enabling safe CRISPR use.


Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Cava ◽  
Gloria Bertoli ◽  
Isabella Castiglioni

Previous studies reported that Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the main cell receptor of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. It plays a key role in the access of the virus into the cell to produce the final infection. In the present study we investigated in silico the basic mechanism of ACE2 in the lung and provided evidences for new potentially effective drugs for Covid-19. Specifically, we used the gene expression profiles from public datasets including The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and Genotype-Tissue Expression, Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analysis to investigate the main functions of ACE2-correlated genes. We constructed a protein-protein interaction network containing the genes co-expressed with ACE2. Finally, we focused on the genes in the network that are already associated with known drugs and evaluated their role for a potential treatment of Covid-19. Our results demonstrate that the genes correlated with ACE2 are mainly enriched in the sterol biosynthetic process, Aryldialkylphosphatase activity, adenosylhomocysteinase activity, trialkylsulfonium hydrolase activity, acetate-CoA and CoA ligase activity. We identified a network of 193 genes, 222 interactions and 36 potential drugs that could have a crucial role. Among possible interesting drugs for Covid-19 treatment, we found Nimesulide, Fluticasone Propionate, Thiabendazole, Photofrin, Didanosine and Flutamide.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Hong ◽  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Lei Gu ◽  
Si-Yi Chen ◽  
Jian-Ping Tong

Background: Myopia (nearsightedness) is currently the most common human eye disorder worldwide. In the recent years, several studies have addressed the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of myopia. Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis on the miRNA expression profiling studies in myopia to identify commonly dysregulated miRNAs in myopic tissues. Method: Seven independent studies were included in the meta-analysis. A vote-counting strategy were employed as the meta-analysis method. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis were performed to identify the pathways most strongly affected by the dysregulated mouse miRNAs. Results: According to the vote-counting method, eighteen miRNAs were reported in at least two studies with the consistent direction, of which 13 miRNAs were commonly up-regulated in myopic samples compared with control samples and five miRNAs were commonly down-regulated. Subgroup analyses divided and compared the differentially expressed miRNAs according to species (human and animal) and ocular tissue types. The KEGG analysis showed that the dysregulated mouse miRNAs were most enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction signal pathway. The most enriched GO processes regulated by the dysregulated mouse miRNAs was cellular protein modification process. Conclusions. Our meta-analysis recommends several miRNAs may provide some clues of the potential biomarkers in myopia. Further mechanistic studies are warranted to elucidate the biological role of the dysregulated miRNAs in the development of myopia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueyou Ma ◽  
Yufan Ying ◽  
Haiyun Xie ◽  
Xiaoyan Liu ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
...  

TAR-DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a member of hnRNP family and acts as both RNA and DNA binding regulator, mediating RNA metabolism and transcription regulation in various diseases. Currently, emerging evidence gradually elucidates the crucial role of TDP-43 in human cancers like it is previously widely researched in neurodegeneration diseases. A series of RNA metabolism events, including mRNA alternative splicing, transport, stability, miRNA processing, and ncRNA regulation, are all confirmed to be closely involved in various carcinogenesis and tumor progressions, which are all partially regulated and interacted by TDP-43. Herein we conducted the first overall review about TDP-43 and cancers to systematically summarize the function and precise mechanism of TDP-43 in different human cancers. We hope it would provide basic knowledge and concepts for tumor target therapy and biomarker diagnosis in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 772-782
Author(s):  
Shuang Zhao ◽  
Ye Zhang ◽  
Xujun Liang ◽  
Maoyu Li ◽  
Fang Peng ◽  
...  

Background:DNA methylation, which acts as an expression regulator for multiple Tumor Suppressor Genes (TSGs), is believed to play an important role in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) development.Methods:We compared the effects of 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (decitabine, DAC) on gene expression using RNA sequencing in NPC cells.Results:We analyzed Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) in NPC cells using DAC demethylation treatment and found that 2182 genes were significantly upregulated (≥ 2-fold change), suggesting that they may play a key role in cell growth, proliferation, development, and death. For data analysis, we used the Gene Ontology database and pathway enrichment analysis of the DEGs to discover differential patterns of DNA methylation associated with changes in gene expression. Furthermore, we evaluated 74 methylated candidate TSGs from the DEGs in NPC cells and summarized these genes in several important signaling pathways frequently disrupted by promoter methylation in NPC tumorigenesis.Conclusion:Our study analyzes the DEGs and identifies a set of genes whose promoter methylation in NPC cells is reversed by DAC. These genes are potential substrates of DNMT inhibitors and may serve as tumor suppressors in NPC cells.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1136
Author(s):  
Kaya E. Witte ◽  
Oliver Hertel ◽  
Beatrice A. Windmöller ◽  
Laureen P. Helweg ◽  
Anna L. Höving ◽  
...  

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are crucial mediators of tumor growth, metastasis, therapy resistance, and recurrence in a broad variety of human cancers. Although their biology is increasingly investigated within the distinct types of cancer, direct comparisons of CSCs from different tumor types allowing comprehensive mechanistic insights are rarely assessed. In the present study, we isolated CSCs from endometrioid carcinomas, glioblastoma multiforme as well as adenocarcinomas of lung and prostate and assessed their global transcriptomes using full-length cDNA nanopore sequencing. Despite the expression of common CSC markers, principal component analysis showed a distinct separation of the CSC populations into three clusters independent of the specific type of tumor. However, GO-term and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed upregulated genes related to ribosomal biosynthesis, the mitochondrion, oxidative phosphorylation, and glycolytic pathways, as well as the proteasome, suggesting a great extent of metabolic flexibility in CSCs. Interestingly, the GO term “NF-kB binding” was likewise found to be elevated in all investigated CSC populations. In summary, we here provide evidence for high global transcriptional similarities between CSCs from various tumors, which particularly share upregulated gene expression associated with mitochondrial and ribosomal activity. Our findings may build the basis for identifying novel therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2078-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Elliott ◽  
Gerard C. Blobe

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is a ubiquitous and essential regulator of cellular and physiologic processes including proliferation, differentiation, migration, cell survival, angiogenesis, and immunosurveillance. Alterations in the TGF-β signaling pathway, including mutation or deletion of members of the signaling pathway and resistance to TGF-β-mediated inhibition of proliferation are frequently observed in human cancers. Although these alterations define a tumor suppressor role for the TGF-β pathway in human cancer, TGF-β also mediates tumor-promoting effects, either through differential effects on tumor and stromal cells or through a fundamental alteration in the TGF-β responsiveness of the tumor cells themselves. TGF-β and members of the TGF-β signaling pathway are being evaluated as prognostic or predictive markers for cancer patients. Ongoing advances in understanding the TGF-β signaling pathway will enable targeting of this pathway for the chemoprevention and treatment of human cancers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baoliang Zhang ◽  
Lei Yuan ◽  
Guanghui Chen ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Xiaoxi Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Obese individuals predispose to ossification of ligamentum flavum (OLF), whereas the underlying connections between obesity phenotype and OLF pathomechanism are not fully understood, especially during early life. This study aimed to explore obesity-associated genes and their functional signatures in OLF. Methods: Gene microarray expression data related to OLF were downloaded from the GSE106253 dataset in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The potential obesity-related differentially expressed genes (ORDEGs) in OLF were screened. Then, gene-ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were applied for these genes. Furthermore, protein-protein interactions (PPI) were used to identify hub ORDEGs, and Metascape was used to further verify the key signaling pathways and immune-related function signatures of hub ORDEGs. Finally, correlation analysis of hub ORDEGs and identified OLF-related infiltrating immune cells (OIICs) was constructed to understand the possible mechanical link among obesity, immune response and OLF. Results: OLF-related differentially expressed genes and 2051 obesity-related genes from four databases were intersected to obtain 99 ORDEGs, including 54 upregulated and 55 downregulated genes. GO and KEGG analysis revealed that these genes were mainly involved in metabolism, inflammation and immune-related biological functions and pathways. A PPI network was established to determine 14 hub genes (AKT1, CCL2, CCL5, CXCL2, ICAM1, IL10, MYC, PTGS2, SAA1, SOCS1, SOCS3, STAT3, TNFRSF1B and VEGFA). The co-expression network demonstrated that this module was associated with cellular response to biotic stimulus, regulation of inflammatory response, regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT protein. Furthermore, Metascape functional annotations showed that hub genes were mainly involved in receptor signaling pathway via JAK-STAT, response to TNF and regulation of defense response, and their representative enriched pathways were TNF, adipocytokine and JAK-STAT signaling pathways. Subgroup analysis indicated that T cell activation might be potential immune function processes involved, and correlation analysis revealed that cDCs, memory B-cells and preadipocytes were highly correlated infiltrating immune cells. Conclusions: Our study deciphered individualized obesity-associated gene signature for the first time, which may facilitate exploring the underlying cellular and molecular pathogenesis and novel therapeutic targets of obesity-related early-onset OLF.


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